VOL. 9 ISSUE 113 • WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 3, 2016
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EDGEDAVAO
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Serving a seamless society
BACK AT THE HELM. Davao City Vice Mayor Paolo Z. Duterte appears to be eager to make up for lost time as he presides over the City Council’s session yesterday at the Sangguniang Panlungsod. It was Duterte’s first time to preside over a session of the 18th Council after serving for weeks as acting mayor when his sister, Sara, took a leave of absence. Lean Daval Jr.
CITY COUNCIL SUPPORTS SARA’S 10-POINT AGENDA By CHENEEN R. CAPON
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crc@edgedavao.net
HE 17th Council of Davao City passed a resolution yesterday throwing its full support behind the 10-point socioeconomic agenda of Mayor Sara Z. Duterte-Carpio. The move signified the legislative branch’s desire to complement the priorities and programs of the Duterte-Carpio administration. The mayor, just like her father, President Rodrigo Duterte, earlier bared the city government’s 10 top priority concerns. She intends her programs and plans for the next six years to focus on poverty alleviation, infrastructure development, solid waste management, health and education. Her administration will also look into ways of boosting the city’s agriculture and tourism sectors. Also included in the city government’s development
agenda is the implementation of strategies on transportation planning and traffic management, peace and order, and disaster risk reduction and mitigation. In a separate interview with majority floor leader Councilor Bernard E. Al-ag of the city’s third district, he noted that Mayor Duterte-Carpio’s socioeconomic agenda will serve as a “guide of the City Council” in terms of legislation. Considered to be independent from the executive branch, Al-ag said the Council will also lay out its own legislative agenda for the next three years during the Executive-Legislative Agenda (ELA) meeting slated to be held at the end of this month. “(The meeting) will spell out our concrete action,” he added. The ELA meeting is conducted whenever there are newly-elected legislators
and newly-appointed city administrators. According to Al-ag, among the salient features of the Council’s agenda, which will be presented during the ELA meeting, are policy and legislation on poverty alleviation. He said the Council would also focus on the passage of legislation that will lead to the creation of more jobs, which is among the mayor’s priority thrusts. The councilor believes that the creation of more jobs for Dabawenyos will provide a long-term solution to the city’s poverty situation. Alag added that his office would work on crafting policies that will entice more investors to venture into the city’s manufacturing sector, saying “We believe that manufacturing can be an engine of growth in job generation,” the councilor said.
City council moves to address rising dengue death toll By FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA
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HE rising number of deaths attributed to dengue virus has alarmed the City Council here after the death toll has reached 25 beginning January of this year. Majority floor leader councilor Bernard Al-ag said the increasing number of dengue cases and the resulting deaths are now a major cause of concern that needs to be addressed as soon as possible Al-ag said the council’s committee on health is studying the feasibility of passing an anti-dengue ordinance as a measure to effectively address the
alarming dengue situation in the city. He recalled sponsoring a similar ordinance in 2004 when he was still the chairperson of the Committee on Health. However, it was not approved by the council back then due to the “strict provisions of the ordinance.” “Right now that the dengue cases are high, maybe the Committee on Health can re-file the anti-dengue ordinance,” he said, “We just need to adjust the measures that are applicable [to our] present time.” He said the council is looking at the possibility
of institutionalizing the 4’ o’clock habit, wherein all barangays will be required to conduct a cleanup drive every 4 P.M. to ensure that the dengue-carrying mosquitoes will be deprived of breeding grounds. According to Al-ag, the council will also monitor the implementation of the City Health Office’s (CHO) anti-dengue campaign. “We will look closely into the implementation of the proposed anti-dengue project of the City Health (Office),” he said, adding, “We already released their budget for the said campaign.”
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